ECMI participates in the conference “Inclusion Unaffordable?” organized by the University of Latvia, 16-17 November 2009
With public opinion in recent years having soured on multiculturalism, conflicts over culture have intensified in the public sphere of culturally diverse societies.
Strong articulations against accommodating cultural difference have swung the pendulum back towards the neutral liberal state away from the model of multiculturalism.
The notion that de facto cultural diverse societies are more likely to prosper by promoting cultural diversity as an instrumental value is little appreciated in many political debates.
Acerbated by the economic crisis, national and ethnic minorities have become the scapegoats of governments and lawmakers alike.
To discuss these issues, ECMI Director Dr. Tove H. Malloy participates in the conference „Inclusion Unaffordable? The Uncertain Fate of Integration Policies and the Demonisation of Minorities and Migrants in Central and Eastern Europe‟, organized by the Advanced Social and Political Research Institute (ASPRI) at the University of Latvia in Riga on 16 and 17 November 2009.
Dr. Malloy will present a paper addressing the political implications of culture in the public sphere.
The conference aims to assess the state and problems of integration policies under current financial pressures in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and to address xenophobia and the deficit of pluralist political discourse as important aspects of the newly emerging democratic deficit in new EU member states.
It is organized under the auspices of the projects “Shrinking Citizenship: A Challenge to Civil Society and Participation” directed by the Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS (Riga) and “Measuring Integration”, directed by ASPRI, both running since 2007 with financing from the Open Society Institute Think-Tank Fund.
The conference brings together researchers from think-tanks and universities, media, politicians, civil servants, policy-makers, and members of the Latvian public to assess new challenges to integration policies and to pluralist political discourse in Eastern Europe in the times of economic crisis.
